51 :: Providence United Methodist Church

This morning we worshipped at Providence United Methodist Church. This is the second time I have worshipped along this corridor of immense and beautiful churches that line lower Providence Road. We have made few visits to these churches because they have been closed for the last year and are opening cautiously only now.

The United Methodist Church was Beth's denomination of origin, in which she was raised from birth through early adulthood.

This picture gives a glimpse of the scale of Providence United Methodist Church:

Today is Palm Sunday and we thought it was the right time to visit a mainline, liturgical church. We did so after attending the early service at Freedom House. 

Quite a contrast!

We zipped down Providence Road from South End on this overcast morning and got to the church just in time to sit down for the organ music.

It has been a long time since I have heard organ music.

The service was highly structured and followed a bulletin.

It has been a long time since I have attended a church with this type of bulletin.

There were two solo musical performances, one a black spiritual named Ride On, King Jesus and the other was the haunting hymn Wondrous Love.

It has been a long time since I attended church with such solos.

The service was abbreviated in duration, as they did not have a sermon and instead did a lengthy reading from Mark 14:1 - 15:47 [link]. All four pastors participated in the reading.

This service at PUMC was an excellent example of High Church, a category of worship that is majestic in approach, structured in methodology, and with a classical orientation in terms of music. High Church is how I have spent virtually all of my church life until the last year. 

Experiencing it again this morning generated a fair amount of thought.

First, a note on who these Methodists are. Methodism was founded in the United Kingdom in the early 18th century by a small group of theologians headed by a man named John Wesley. The denomination is large in the US, with more than seven million members.

A note about the United Methodist Church - it is going through a schism. Very recently, in fact. In recent weeks, conservatives in the denomination have announced their intent to split from the United Methodist Church over the question of same-sex marriage. Here is a [link] with more information.

On the other end of the theological spectrum, there is a movement within Methodism named the Liberation Methodist Connexion [link], a liberation theology-based movement that declares that "...we are journeying toward a new way of being followers of Christ that refute the imbalance of powers, principalities, and privileges that has plagued Methodism: colonialism, white supremacy, economic injustices, patriarchy, sexism, clericalism, ableism, ageism, transphobia, and heteronormativity. We trust God’s presence and our collaborative labors will guide us toward a new, more liberative way of answering our calling and being in connexion together… LMX theology is not written in stone because our human understanding continues to evolve as we deepen our personal and collective understandings of God. We have been expanding our methodist theological heritage with various expressions of Liberation theologies, theories, and praxis."

Yes, the United Methodist Church represents a spectrum of theologies so broad as to no longer merit unity. When some people oppose same sex marriage and other people oppose "heteronormativity," there remains no further grounds for common worship.

And I support that fully.

Denominationalism may very well be a largely dying paradigm, and I feel that this is almost certainly a good idea that they now devolve. The world is one in which worldviews seem to be proliferating at breakneck speed. Societies are changing rapidly and there are fewer things holding us together across ideological divides. That these major societal changes would assert themselves within Christian denominations is expected. As this happens, unity is falling by the wayside.

PUMC seems that it would qualify as a church with a higher degree of conservatism within the budding schism that is dividing Methodism. 

In addition to the branching of theology within the denomination, there is also a change in the format of the worship style. PUMC has created a worship style named The Net, evoking Matthew 4:9 and Mark 1:17 when Yeshua told his followers that they would become "fishers of men." Here is an embedded video of this new worship event that PUMC hosts:

They seem to have got the right approach for this format of music and worship style. Not having experienced it directly, I cannot say what the experience is like. But I applaud them for making an effort to turn the page on the High Church format. Despite its undeniable beauty, it is antiquated at this point. 

What about the worship itself?

Beth made the most relevant point about the worship style. There is something to be said for sitting in a quiet setting and waiting for the Spirit. There is something to be said for having a chance to meditate in silence on the Scripture that has been read. She felt a deep sense of placidity during today's service, in large part because there was not a huge amount of sensory input. 

She is an introvert and can thrive in quiet places of solitude.

I am an extrovert and can thrive when there is blaring praise music and massive sensory input.

Of note is that we had just worshipped at Freedom House and jammed out to the great band as the Spirit washed wildly over the crowd. The contrast between the two services was interesting and provided fodder for pondering the nature of worship.

I asked Beth what she would do if she had to choose between the two worship styles (contemporary & charismatic versus traditional High Church) if she knew that she would never experience the other style again. 

She smiled and said, "Yeah, I think you know the answer to that. I don't even need to say, do I?"

No, darling, you don't need to say it.

As more people drift away from denominationalism and High Church, something will certainly be lost. There is definitely something that is sacred and special and intellectually gratifying in that format. With that said, it is not drawing younger people to the Body of Christ in compelling numbers. This truth, combined with the seemingly never-ending squabbling that seems to be inherent in denominationalism, reinforces that change is very much needed.

That PUMC is leaning into some of these changes is a hopeful thing. May they keep going boldly down this road of evolution.

Thanks to PUMC for a placid and pensive Palm Sunday experience.